Vol. 74/No. 48 December 20, 2010
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Militant/Edith Adachi |
Protest outside federal courthouse in Chicago December 6 against grand jury subpoenas of three youths who traveled to Palestine. |
Stan Smith, the father of Sarah Smith, one of those recently subpoenaed who could not be at the protest herself, read his daughters statement. In it she described being contacted December 3 by an FBI agent who asked to talk to her about a trip she took last summer to Israel and the West Bank. Smith, who is Jewish, made the trip with two Palestinian American friends.
You would think that Jews and Palestinians going together to visit Israel and Palestine is something that the U.S. government would encourage, Smiths statement said. Instead we are now being ordered by the FBI to go before a grand jury for going on that trip.
Attorney Jim Fennerty, who represents some of the antiwar activists who were earlier ordered to appear before the grand jury, told WBEZ radio that the U.S. government is widening the scope of this investigation. Theyre trying to squeeze people who do solidarity work around Palestine. All 14 who received subpoenas in September, after the FBI raided many of their homes in Chicago, and Minneapolis have refused to testify in front of the grand jury.
Matt Brandon, secretary-treasurer of Service Employees International Union Local 73, told the December 6 rally here, When people cant get together and protest without being threatened by arrest or raid or subpoena its a sad state of affairs. He pledged that the union will not stand by and watch as people are targeted, and people are dragged from their homes, and peoples belongings are taken and they are searched and seized.
Related articles:
Black rights activists fight 40-year frame-up
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